No torque at low RPM is true, but I've not found it to be an issue. I use the engine in the same way as I do on my motorcycle - pretty much always above 4000.
The flooding issue I mentioned. It may have been different with the RX7, but the RX8 has a de-flood procedure that works 9 times out of 10. And failing that a bump start usually does it. Although I've never flooded mine, I'm always careful not to shut her down cold.
Oil usage in the real world is not much worse than many other performance cars, in fact it's better than most Honda S2000s. But for people who are not used to having to regularly top up oil I could see it being a ball ache.
We have a bunch of old rotary race cars in the showroom at the 9-5, you wouldn't believe how much noise and oil they put out the back whenever they need to be moved around :)
no torque at low rpm is pretty common among the smaller inline 4 cylinder japanese cars as well ( I really learned stick on my integra GS-R - 189hp 4 cylinder). basically if you don't keep the rpms up when you shift you're just pissing away acceleration power. It was probably more noticeable with the honda engine tho (that vtec).
The flooding issue I mentioned. It may have been different with the RX7, but the RX8 has a de-flood procedure that works 9 times out of 10. And failing that a bump start usually does it. Although I've never flooded mine, I'm always careful not to shut her down cold.
Oil usage in the real world is not much worse than many other performance cars, in fact it's better than most Honda S2000s. But for people who are not used to having to regularly top up oil I could see it being a ball ache.